The First Trial
by themaskedinvader
Summary: The Corvega assembly plant, once a monument to mans ingenuity, now lays to rot in the raider pit known as Lexington. The sole survivor, a man of considerable skill, has business here and if luck is on his side, it wont end in death. Still nursing old wounds from his past, will he survive his trial by fire?


**I don't own fallout or Its all over but the crying by the inkspots, I own nothing.**

 **This is my attempt at writing down my first experience at the Corvega Assembly Plant on survival mode.**

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"Ok... I can do this... Right dog meat?"

I looked at my loyal companion, he responded by cocking his head at me. The dog whined at me and went back to gnawing at a piece of radroach I had sliced open earlier. It was as if he was saying, "Human, what's wrong?! Look food! See!"

I peeked over the brick wall high on the hill above the corvega assembly plant. I couldn't see all the raiders, a lot of them were up in that network of catwalks above the building. I'd counted eight but I knew there were more. That was still way too many to take on directly and there would surely be many more inside. I slid back down and opened my back pack and fished out a mutfruit and gently sliced it in half with my machete. I made sure to use the cleaner part not covered in bug goo. _I need to find a rag to clean this_ , I thought.

I'd try to snipe the door guards and any one else with my hunting rifle. Then I'd get inside and move fast, create a lot of mayhem, kill the leader and get out. No point in murdering them all. I figured their leader would be inside one of the upper floors, but probably not on the catwalks. No point in risking my neck to kill them all. If I just killed their leader it should be enough, once he's dead the others won't be able to stop the power struggle and the gang should collapse. My old company commander used to say, "cut off the head and the snake will die." I just had to find the head first.

I had no idea what the inside of the factory was going to look like. That was a problem. Before the war I'd applied there but I never got a call back, so I'd never been inside. No one said rejoining the workforce would be easy, did they Nora?

 _God, I miss her_. I'd only been awake for a week but it seemed like such a short time ago. We were going to go to the park that day, just for a short walk. Nora always loved the Boston Commons, she would lose herself there, the smell of the flowers, the birds singing. I always loved going there with her, because I could lose myself in her.

My scars didn't bother her. She was proud of my service but not fanatical like others were. She was just happy I was home, she loved me for me and looked past everything else. She didn't mind that some nights I woke up screaming for a stimpak, or to make the pain go away. She just held me closer and whispered, "you're ok, I'm here and I love you."

She made everything worth it then, finding Shaun makes all this worth it now. I need to remember that, this is for something, this is for her and Shaun.

I was seriously risking my ass for Tennpines bluff here but I wasn't risking my life just to help that little farm on the bluff. No, I needed the raider's supplies and loot. Without it I wasn't sure I could make it to this Diamond City I'd heard about. Hopefully I'd find Shaun there, or some word of where he could be. I was also hoping I could trade for more ammo and maybe some better armor too. I glanced down at the tattered jeans and leather jacket, I had leather straps wrapped around me to hold my gear. This was crazy. I was taking on a whole gang with a hunting rifle, a sawed off shotgun and a gardening machete, the fuck am I thinking.

I tossed the stem from my mutfruit and picked up my gear. I slid my machete into its sheath over my left shoulder and stuffed my shotgun into the leg strap I'd rigged up. I picked up my rifle and worked the bolt to chamber a round. I only had about thirty rounds left for it, not much but enough. I began my preparations, grabbing a broken chair and propping my rifle on it. I tried to tell myself this was just like hunting deer with dad. I knew it wasn't, this was like Anchorage. _Stop, not the time to think about it._ I looked out the window and observed the raiders activity.

Most of them had those pipe weapons, handcrafted from scrap and willpower. The three guards at the entrance had a mix of shotguns and the pipe pistols. The only real threat to me from here was a man on the cat walks. He had a high vantage point and from the looks of it some sort of scoped rifle.

I took a deep breath and steeled myself. This wasn't the first time I'd killed. Hell, I'd already killed at least twelve people just this week alone. No, don't think about it, just focus on the task at hand. I took another breath and held it. My heart was pounding in my ears, I squeezed the trigger. The man died, his head popping back with the round tearing through it. I quickly aim at another, this one a woman, she's twisting her head around looking for me. A .308 bullet blows a hole through the nape of her neck.

I put another round in a man's chest, then another in the last guard's temple. I fire two more bullets to destroy the turret then I duck down and relocated. A few .38 rounds dig at the wall I'd been using as cover. I ran out of the building and circled around, carefully approaching the factory from the east. Dog meat whines at me, she doesn't like this but it has to be done.

"Come on girl," I tussled her ear and rush for the door. I slung my rifle across my back and drew the sawed off shotgun I'd strapped to my leg.

 _One more deep breath, come on_. I slowly opened the door. I made my way through the lobby, the hall was collapsed so I couldn't go straight in, I needed to find a way around. I made my way through a room and froze when I heard voices.

"Did you hear about ack-ack?"

"Up at station Olivia right?"

"Yeah, I heard some nut case wiped them all out, single handed!"

"That's impossible."

"Yeah, probably, but what if?"

They were chatting about my handy work. I'd burned that bitch alive with a Molotov, had to leave the minigun behind sadly. The Abernathy's got that locket back though and I got a good payday. _No, put it in the box, don't think, just do._

I lined my shotgun up with the side of the man's chest, I was well within range. The blast rang out, the buckshot at this range barely had time to spread out of the wad. The raiders skull was turned into pulp. Changing targets I fired on as soon as it was lined up. The second barrel cleaved the other raiders arm off. I could see the plastic wad still stuck in his rib cage. _Keep moving._

"What the fuck?!"

I could hear multiple footsteps charging down the hall. Before I could move .38 slugs peppered the wall I was against. Retreating into the main lobby I blind fired both barrels towards the door way. I'd forced them back into the hall, quickly I grabbed a Molotov I'd prepared and lit it. I tossed it over the debris pile and into the hall. Screams echoed in the lobby as I ducked through a crack in the wall while I reloaded. A woman that had been caught in the blast was desperately trying to stand back up. Her body was raw and covered in blisters from the flames. I drew my machete and buried it in the crook of her neck, thick ropes of blood spurted out when I kicked her off the blade.

My stomach lurched at the brutality of the situation. Suddenly I was in the bloody snow in the trenches of anchorage, men screaming and crying for their mothers as artillery shells rain down. I fell down to my knees and breathed deeply trying to focus myself out of my panic.

 _I want to stop, I want to go home. No, don't think, just act. Conserve ammo, move fast and quiet, kill fast, if you hesitate you die. No mercy, please forgive me Nora_. I slipped through the hall and up the stairs. My gunshots had been muffled enough by the concrete walls that I hadn't alerted the whole factory. Following the stairs, I came to a large room full of cars and car parts. I could see several men being yelled at by one man in an armored duster. That's him.

I ignored the conversation and tried to take in the room. It was a jumble of half built cars, conveyor belts and leaking barrels of oil and waste. I couldn't count the number of raiders in the room except for the four I saw by the catwalks in the foreman's office.

I spotted a protectron still in its charging pod, I could probably activate it as a distraction. I crept up to the computer console next to it and plugged in my pip boy. The hacking function quickly lit up and broke the code for me. I activated the robot and slinked back to the shadows. It came strutting out of the pod, a mighty screech with every movement. It was slow, rust had almost locked up the joints. It was still armed though and it would act as a bullet sponge.

"Protect and serve," its robotic voice echoed out.

"Shit!"

The small caliber bullets pinged off the metal skin of the bot as it turned to meet its foes. I carefully withdrew myself from the fight and took out my rifle. If I killed the leader they should fall apart, I rationalized again.

"Cut off the snakes head and it will die," I whispered to myself.

I took aim at the catwalk I'd seen him on. He poked out of cover to fire at the bot. I fired a round while the room was rocked by a large explosion. A stray laser struck one of the derelict cars igniting its fusion core.

My bullet tore out a chunk of my targets temple killing him instantly, while shrapnel from the explosion ripped through the room, shredding his companions. I waited for a moment and hearing nothing, I quickly sprinted towards the fallen boss. Most people would keep their loot stash close in a place like this.

Sure enough there was a locked crate in the corner. I picked it quickly, only breaking two Bobby pins and scooped up the loot. I only took the ammo and caps, forced to leave the weapons behind so as to not over encumber myself. They all looked like shit anyway.

"Get off me!"

I froze when I heard dog meat whimper. I'd forgot about him. A shot ran out, followed by the sound of cloth ripping and snarling. I hopped through the window to find dog meat with his jaws latched onto a raider's right arm. He was struggling and fighting to get free but a load of buck shot ended his struggle.

I suddenly fell to the catwalks floor, something had hit my left side near my rib cage. I felt for my side where I'd been hit and saw blood. I'd been shot, I could hear the gunfire over my beating heart now, ripping up through the floor. Fuck, fuck, fuck, I thought as I tried to focus. I crawled away as quickly as I could.

 _Stimpak! No, dig the bullet out first! No time! Medx now bandage later!_

I stuck myself with the dirty needle and felt the instant rush from the medicine. Fuck, was I tired. I stood and tried to aim my shotgun. The man below aimed up at me and for a split second I could see the pain and fear in the man's face. His ragged clothing was covered in blood, he'd been hit badly by shrapnel. He was as scared as I was, he was probably hopped up on Medx just like me.

I fired before he could, my pellets impacted his arms and chest and he fell with the wounds. He didn't die there though, he began to struggle to stand again. Quickly, I tried to reload, my hands clumsy from the drug and making it difficult. He rolled over and turned to fire at me as I snapped my gun closed. He didn't get the chance to fire though.

Dog meat leapt from the shadows and tore into the man's arm. His vicious assault caught the raider off guard and he fell to his back, screaming for help. He let go of the raiders forearm and latched onto his throat and violently shook his muzzle. The man's cries turned into a wet gurgle as he backed off. He clasped at his throat trying desperately to stop his life from spilling out. Dog meat calmly chewed at the piece of his trachea he had torn out a short distance away.

Swallowing the chunk cartilage and skin he went back to happily panting as he trotted over to the steps of the catwalk. He whined at the bottom of the stairs, telling me he wouldn't come up because the metal grates would hurt his paws.

I shoved the images away and rushed down to meet him and we made our way for the steps. Act now, think later, I repeated as we fled. Running down the stairs I could hear raiders shouting and yelling out, trying to figure out what was happening. When I neared the ground floor hall I saw two raiders emerge, I fired both barrels and they ducked into a door way. We ran for the exit only pausing to toss a second Molotov down the hall to impede my pursuers.

Bursting through the door, I squinted as the sun assaulted my eyes but we didn't dare pause. We had to move and fast. I didn't bother trying to sneak away now, I sprinted for my previous cover up on the hill. From there I could follow the rail road tracks back towards the dinner and home to sanctuary or fight if it came to that.

Bullets bit into the pavement around me, spurring me and dog meat on even faster. We didn't stop running till we made it to the dinner where Trudy greeted me and tossed me a bottle of purified water. She still felt she owed me for putting down that bastard chem dealer. I knew the crows were picking at him a few hundred yards off where we'd dumped the body.

I found that my wound had been minor, just grazing my side. Trudy helped me get patched up for free. I still drank some herbal tea that would help bolster my immune system just in case of infection.

I sat there for an hour while dog meat cleaned his bloody muzzle off and lapped up water from a cracked coffee cup. I reached down and patted his head, I tried to ignore the blood that was still smeared all over his jowls while he licked at my hands.

The visions of the raider girl, blood spurting from her gapping neck danced in my head. This was my life now, I felt the cold steel of my shotgun and the smooth worn wood, this is real. I really did that, I really killed all those people. I shook my head and closed my eyes, just breath, I repeated to myself.

Trudy was humming a song, one I knew well. The radio on the counter crackled along as the song played out.

"It's all over, but the crying and nobody's crying but me. Friends all over know I'm trying, to forget about how much I care for you," Trudy sang along. The last few words echoed in the dreary evening. Her voice wasn't fantastic and contrasted terribly with the inkspots but it was heartfelt.

"Fuck," I muttered while getting up. Feeling aches and pains that were beginning to make themselves known.

"Thanks Trudy, I'll hopefully be back in a week."

"Still want those .308 rounds? I'll take all those .38's for trade."

"Yeah," we shook hands on the deal. I collected the two boxes of bullets and turned to leave. The sun was setting, and I needed to get back before dark.

"Come on buddy, let's go."


End file.
